Windows 8.1, available as a preview from June 26, will bring back features familiar to and missed by Windows 7 users, including a Start button – but no Start menu – and the choice of not beginning their bootup experience with the touch-optimised “Modern” tile interface. Read more

Why you would click a button labelled “start” to turn something off has never been entirely clear.

But for hundreds of millions of PC users, the start button in the bottom left corner of the Windows screen has been an invaluable navigation tool – which is why Microsoft looks to be on the verge of reversing course over Windows 8 and bringing it back. Read more

Does Microsoft risk confusing consumers with an operating system that tries to serve every kind of computing device and may end up satisfying no one? With its dual-interface, dual-purpose, dual-processor, mixed-up thinking, Windows 8 is a pushmi-pull­yu, half-man, half-biscuit, weird and occasionally wonderful creation that is guaranteed to bewilder – at least initially.

And that’s just the Microsoft end of the operation. The hardware makers have responded with their own Whirligig 8 – sorry, Windows 8 – of swivelling, swinging, sliding and snapping hybrid devices that veer from tablets to notebooks. Everyone is trying to cover everything while they wait to see what we consumers will go for.

Messing around with one of the world’s most familiar everyday products is hardly something to be undertaken lightly – and with the new version of Windows, which goes on sale on Friday, there has been a lot of messing around. That almost guarantees some degree of user backlash. But it would be wrong to judge the outcome of what amounts to a bet-the-farm gamble by Microsoft on its initial reception.

Sony has been putting on a show for its Windows 8 US lineup at an event in New York on Thursday, with an innovative All-In-One PC and a convertible ultrabook getting most of the attention.

The Vaio Tap 20 PC (pictured left) and the slider hybrid – the Vaio Duo 11 Ultrabook - were first unveiled at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin six weeks ago and have also been shown to the press with the rest of Sony’s lineup at briefings here in San Francisco. Read more

The advent of a touch-optimised Windows 8 operating system might sound like bad news for a company like Logitech, best known for its keyboards and mice.

But the Swiss peripherals maker has come up with some much needed accessories for those times when touchscreens are clumsy to use or missing, and built-in controls are just not adequate for the new ways of navigating. Read more

Widescreen TVs may be the norm these days, but not so much widescreen PCs. That may be about to change thanks to Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system, which encourages users to scroll across the screen rather than up and down.

The way in which a new product is unveiled can sometimes be just as important as the product itself. However, in Microsoft’s case this week, a few hiccups didn’t appear to distract some tech commentators from writing glowing reviews of the company’s tablet computer, Surface, announced on Monday. Read more

Both seem certain to be featured in new Ultrabooks later this year, although models unveiled at Computex will still feature Windows 7 and be Windows 8-ready, judging by briefings by PC manufacturers ahead of the show. Read more

It’s the weekend. What better time to pour a glass of wine, put your feet up and settle back with… a 9,000-word blog post about the future of Windows?

Not this post (which comes in at a mere 300 words) – this one, from Steven Sinofsky, which lays out Microsoft’s plans for bringing Windows to ARM-based mobile devices. But don’t worry: there’s no reason to read the whole thing to see why it’s got Microsoft-watchers buzzing. Read more

Microsoft has revealed details of its Windows Store for Windows 8, The Verge reports. The store is to be released in late February and developers can submit apps starting at $1.49. The company also revealed a revenue share that differs from rival marketplaces. Read more

Things are heating up again in the world of tablets. While talk of a tablet war is buzzing, with the latest player soon to be Microsoft, existing tablet makers are struggling to catch up with the iPad.

Here is some unexpected news from the frontline of the tablet computing revolution: the screens full of “apps” that have achieved an almost iconic status thanks to the success of the iPad, may not be the be-all and end-all of touchscreen computing.

The unlikely prompt for this thought is none other than Microsoft. The PC software leviathan has hardly been known for its pioneering ways with computer interfaces, let alone for design flair. Nevertheless, it looks set to add an interesting new twist to tablets.

Club Penguin, the Disney-owned social network for children, is to make its debut on mobile devices with the release of Puffle Launch for iOS, Mashable reports. Puffle Launch for iOS is a replica of an existing Club Penguin web game which is played by 150,000 children each day. Read more

Music publishers have settled their part of a class action suit brought against YouTube, according to PaidContent. The suit, brought by them and other leading content providers such as the Premier League, alleged that the video site’s inattention to controlling copyright material violated the law. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Read more

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About the authors

Richard Waters has headed the FT's San Francisco bureau since 2002 and covers Google and Microsoft, among other things. A former New York bureau chief for the FT, he is intrigued by Silicon Valley's unique financial and business culture, and is looking forward to covering his second Tech Bust.

Chris Nuttall has been online and messing around with computers for more than 20 years. He reported from the FT's San Francisco bureau on semiconductors, video games, consumer electronics and all things interwebby from 2004 to 2013, before returning to London.

Tim Bradshaw is the FT's digital media correspondent, and has just moved from London to join our team in San Francisco. He has covered start-ups such as Twitter and Spotify, as well as the online ambitions of more established media companies, such as the BBC iPlayer. He also covers the advertising, marketing and video-game industries. Tim has been writing about technology, business and finance since 2003.

Robert Cookson is the FT's digital media correspondent in London. He
covers digital enterprise in media, from the music industry to local newspapers and social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. A former Hong Kong markets correspondent, he is interested in the interplay
between old media and new technologies.

Hannah Kuchler writes about technology and Silicon Valley from the FT's San Francisco bureau. She covers social media including Facebook and Twitter and the dark and mysterious world of cybersecurity. Hannah has worked for the FT in London, Hong Kong and New York, reporting on everything from British politics to the Chinese internet.

Sarah Mishkin in a correspondent in San Francisco, where she covers payments, e-commerce, and political news on the West Coast. Prior to California, she has worked as an FT reporter in New York, London, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, and most recently in Taiwan, where she covered Chinese internet companies, semiconductors, and tech supply chains.